Moment's In Life
by AmerowolfLives
Summary: Under Major Revision Another Take on Cloud and Tifa's childhood together, Sephiroth's Visist to Nibelhiem, and of course after Meteor is dissolved. Cloti! BEWARE!
1. Father's Apprentice

**Author's note/ WARNING:**Now Now Now...Guess who came back. YOU CAN'T KEEP AMEROWOLF DOWN! No way! So far...I've been checking out stories and I must say. I'm not impressed. That's ok, I'll show you youngins how we do it oldschool like back when I was n00b.

AHA! This is my old story...And I'm going to revise the whole damn thing. As well as my others. So be ready...**AMEROWOLF REVOLUTION!**

**_DISCLAIMER:_** I own nothing in this story, but I own the story and if I decide to put an OC in I own that too. I don't own my fucked up cookie either oh but what fun I would have if I did. BWHAHAHAHAHA! Anyway this isn't true to his childhood either.(orginal disclaimer) wasn't I a funny n00b...

_**Part One:**_

**Chapter 1**

**Father's apprentice**

"Tifa are you up yet?" Mrs. Lockhart yelled up the stairs. Tifa looked up from her piano. Today was the day that her best friends were leaving Nibelhiem. Tifa got up and ran down the stairs in a rush, almost tripping several times.

"Hey calm down kid." Her father said as she ran into him. Mr. Lockhart was a tall man with black wavy hair who worked as a blacksmith in their town of Nibelhiem. His smith was in the small part of their kitchen. He was always relatively dirty because he worked in there a lot. Tifa had always considered him to have a light black beard because of all the soot. Her father set his large strong hands on her small shoulders to keep her from falling over.

"Sit and eat breakfast I don't think they will leave without saying goodbye." Tifa's mother said sitting her down in a chair almost forcefully. Mrs. Lockhart was known to be the best cook in the town. In fact when she taught Tifa to cook she said that her father had put the smith here because the customers just wanted her cooking. That was very true many did come for the food. Her mother was also very beautiful too she had flowing brown hair that reached to the middle of her back. Her father often said when he got in trouble that her piercing blue eyes burnt a hole in his heart. Tifa had always wanted to be like her mother. She was so strong, and it almost seemed like she could withstand everything.

"Andrew get in here so we can have a nice family breakfast." Mrs. Lockhart yelled into the kitchen. Soon after that, Mr. Lockhart came out wiping his hands on his pants leaving large black smears on his overalls.

"So are you sad to see your posse leave?" her father said as he sat down at the table. Tifa just nodded her head. That was such a fatherly thing to say. He always said things like that to prevent silence. Her father loved to talk and hated when it was quite. Blacksmith really was a great job for him. With all that pounding there was hardly ever a quite moment. Even in the evening he would sit in the kitchen and tell stories to her, or to anyone else that was around. Tifa also suspected he talked to himself when he was alone.

"Well now I'll have more time to help you in the shop Papa." She said happily smiling as she poked at the questionable looking food on her plate. It was a quite good dish, but you couldn't tell by the way it looked.

"Umm well I already hired myself an apprentice, but I think it would be okay if you helped show him the ropes." Her father said nervously eating his toast. "Besides girls should be out doing...girly things" Tifa ignored that last comment he uttered through a mouthful of toast. She did do girly things, but they weren't very fun. Now pounding on a slab on a slab of iron, now that's fun.

"Oh who is it?" Tifa said a little dejected. She shuddered at the thought of how boring it would be without her normal jobs in the smith. Or how horribly stupid his new apprentice could be. Some of the boys in this town weren't exactly chivalrous.

"Kid who lives next store, let's see here his name is..Um…." Her father said scratching his head.

"You mean Cloud, Papa," Tifa said interrupting his pondering.

"Yes Cloud that's his name…I should remember that shouldn't I…anyway that boy is frightfully shy, but he's the only one who applied." Her father started rambling as he read the paper.

"You should go before you get caught up in his rambling." Tifa mother said sighing at her father. Tifa got up and gave her family a little bow and left. She walked out into the bright morning air.

As much as she hated being awake in the morning she did love the fresh dew filled air. It was so nice and sweet smelling outside. Like fresh rain and spring flowers. A small door slamming interrupted her thoughts.

"Hey Cloud" Tifa said as she waved to her neighbor. She never said much to him. Sometimes she saw him outside looking at something, but she never thought much of it. He was usually fighting someone. He was quiet and he seemed sweet, but he was always violent.

"Howdy" her said quietly slinging a empty burlap sack over his shoulder.

"I hear your going to apprentice my father" she said walking next to him. She felt kind of awkward, but not scared. Most people said that he would jump anyone and beat them down. She didn't see how he could do it. Most of the children had at least a good foot over Cloud. She thought he was kind of cute being so small.

"That's right." He nodded giving her a small smile.

"Tch...Good luck when I help him all he does is tell stories." Tifa said waving her hand to some people she passed.

"I don't really mind. Where are you off to this morning Tifa?" he asked shifting the bags on his shoulder.

"Well I'm going to see the kids off. Are you going too?" Cloud stopped and shifted from foot to foot. Tifa thought he had kind of an odd look on his face.

"No, My mother needs some supplies." Cloud begun to walk off and turned to open the door of her grandfather's shop.

"Oh well I'll see you later today then." Cloud froze with the door half open and turned around.

"What?" Cloud said kind of nervously. A man came out and pushed Cloud out of the way. His face tightened and his eyes narrowed into slits. He looked like he was going to tackle him. Then he stopped and his features loosened.

"I'm going to help teach you." Tifa said smiling widely and enjoying the frightened look on Cloud's face, and the fact that he didn't attack that man. She walked off towards the end of town she had heard that Cloud liked her. She felt sorry for the kid that got that information out of him. He probably spent several days in bed. She didn't normally see him in town people said he would go out side of town and kill monsters. Tifa didn't really believe that, but it such did sound cloud-like.

"You Tif I'm so glad you made it, aren't you Tyler." Monica said happily running up to her. Monica was one of Tifa's best friends, but she had recently married and now is going to move. She had shoulder length black hair and small buckteeth. Monica was very short actually about three-fourths the size of Tifa. Monica, her husband Tyler, and the three members of her posse were among the ones leaving. Biggs, Wedge, and Jesse all came running around from the front of the car.

"Yeah sure." Tyler said loading up the car. Tyler was one of the main people Cloud got into fights with. He was very cocky and really doesn't know when to stop. Tyler had short black hair that was always fuzzy if her didn't have it spiked up. Tyler had a narrow face and almost always had a scowl on it.

"Oh don't mind him. It's to early for us." Monica said clamping her hands on his shoulders. Biggs, Wedge, and Jesse all nodded their heads.

"Yeah for me too." Tifa said yawning, "Where are you headed?" She added.

"Well were catching a ship at Costa De La Sol, then were off towards Kalm." Tyler said as he attempted to close the trunk.

"Well we're going to Midgar. There's got to be something better there." Jesse added as she tried to pull Biggs from on top of Wedge while the three of them were fighting about who got the front seat.

"Wow what a long way." Tifa said quietly. She kind of felt sad that she too wasn't leaving, but her family needed her here. She didn't want to leave the safety of Nibelhiem.

"Don't worry Tifa we'll visit. I hope you'll be okay with out us here." Monica said putting and arm around her slumped shoulder.

"Yeah I'll be okay here. It seems like I'm the only one not leaving." Tifa sighed and sat down on a log by the old truck.

"You could always make friends with Cloud." Tyler smirked as he leaned on the car..Tifa glared at him in confusion.

"Fine I will!" Tifa shot back at the tall scrawny man. Tyler slumped over the side of the old beat up truck laughing.

"We should go now" Monica stood up on her toes and gave Tifa a hug. Tyler walked over and hugged the too.

"Did I invite you?" Monica said. Tyler just shrugged as he got into the drivers seat. He also saw Biggs shoved out the window onto the ground.

"I felt left out" he said as he strapped his seatbelt on. Monica got into the seat next to Tyler and Biggs hopped in the back with Wedge and Jesse. The truck started up and Tyler stuck his head out th window.

"Good luck being friends with that punk!" He shouted over the roaring engine. The truck drove off and Tifa watched all of her friends wave as they disappeared onto the horizon. Tifa sat and watched the now empty horizon. She suddenly felt a lack of things to do.

**A/n:** if anyone oldies are reading you noticed I took out the song. I didn't like it...


	2. Questions are Annoying

**A/n: **Fun, fun shiiiit...You know how many crappy stories I have to revise. Let's see...I have to write one...I have 3-4 one shots up for revisions. This 37+ chapter story that I haven't even finished and my very first craptastical 16 chapter Yuffietine story...**That was my first fan fiction.**

_Part one:_

**Chapter two**

**Questions are annoying**

Tifa sat rolling her fingers on her knees and leaning back in a dining room chair. She had been doing that same thing for an hour while listening to her father's rhythmic pounding.

"So when is he supposed to be here?" Tifa asked impatiently. Her father stopped his poundind and set down the hammer.

"God you must be bored! I thought you didn't want me to get an apprentice." He father said wiping the sweat from his forehead as he peeked into the dining area. As always he was covered with a visible layer of black soot from the burning charcoal. She remember once when her mother was tiding up the smith how she had complained about what the charcoal did to the walls. Charcoal was the only material that burned hot enough and long enough to heat metal.

"I never said that." Tifa said blandly. She caught herself on the table as she nearly fell back to the floor.

"You didn't?" her father said rubbing his brow in confusion. Tifa just shook her head no. Her father sort of looked paler today, perhaps he was getting a cold.

"Oh well anyway he should be here pretty soon. So are you going to help me train him?" her father asked sitting down and leaning back in a chair also. That was a habit that her mother hated. Half of these chairs her father and herself had ended up fixing because they fell backwards and broke them.

"Tch. If all you do is tell stories like usual I'll end up training him myself." Tifa said smirking at him.

Her father started laughing and fell backwards onto the floor causing Tifa to break out in laughter.

"Uhh hello?" cloud said poking his head through the door. He was sort of scared by the laughter that echoed through out the kitchen. He would've felt awkward if he interrupted those family moments that he never had, since he only had a mother.

"Come on in…Cloud!" Mr. Lockhart said taking the moment he used to get off the floor to remember his name.

"Well then let's get to work shall we?" Mr. Lockhart said wasting no time as he headed into the kitchen.

"In the event that he goes off into the story I'll be your teacher." She whispered to him. Cloud just smiled and followed Tifa and her father into the kitchen.

"Well mainly we get work from people that come into town and need their weapons fixed. Though on occasion the people at the ShinRa Mansion will order some swords to be made or some gun barrels for the gun smith. Come on I'll show you around." Mr. Lockhart said as he showed Cloud all the equipment. Tifa pulled up and chair and watched for hours as her father showed Cloud the correct way to pound steel and iron, how to heat it, how to sharpen it, how to repair blades. Eventually Tifa's mother came in a watched a little bit whilst she prepared dinner.

"Alright let's take a break. Make yourself at home while I go some of my old tools." Mr. Lockhart said as he trudged down the stairs into the basement. Cloud sat in a chair by the smith and crossed his arms. Tifa dragged her chair over next to him. They both sat quietly for a moment. Cloud seemed to be looking everywhere except at the people in the room.

"I'm so proud of him." She said crossing her arms almost imitating Cloud's scowl as well.

"Hmm?" he answered looking at her with a bemused look. He turned his head, but his eyes didn't fully look at her.

"My father… not once did he go off into a story." She smiled receiving a quiet yeah' from Cloud.

"I hear you went out to kill monsters?" Tifa asked again. "Is that true?"

"Sometimes, if it's necessary. I just go out there to be alone." Cloud shut his eyes and leaned his head on the back of the chair. Tifa stared at him for a while, studying him as if her were an interesting specimen. Then her father came back downstairs.

"Ok I'll find them tonight. Work's over today." Mr. Lockhart announced since he obviously didn't find his tools.

"Cloud would you like to stay for dinner?" Mrs. Lockhart asked while washing some dishes.

"No my mother is expecting me, but thank you." Cloud said standing up giving her a little bow.

"Hey be back here at the same time tomorrow." Mr. Lockhart yelled after him. A couple of minutes later Mrs. Lockhart announced that dinner was ready.

"That kid should do pretty good. Nice smooth hand. He's also built up some good sturdy calluses already too." Mr. Lockhart said through a mouthful of food. Tifa's mother smacked the back of his head and yelled for him to swallow first.

"I'm sure he'll do fine" Tifa said quietly.

"Yeah you were sure asking him a lot of questions when your father left." Mrs. Lockhart said smiling softly.

"What! He doesn't talk about himself that much I was seizing the opportunity." Tifa said defending herself.

"Yeah. Yeah ok." Her mother said. After dinner was done Tifa went up to her room and played her piano. The sun had already set when she stopped. Her fingers were numbs so she went over to her window again. It was a beautiful night outside the bright starry sky caressed by the Nibel Mountains. The sky reminded her of her friends and of Cloud too. She didn't really understand why she thought about them.

"Urg why am I thinking about this?" Tifa said as she irritably got up and went to bed. Tifa was woke up by the bright sun the next day. She pulled the covers over her head to block out the light, but decided to get out of bed anyway. She showered and headed downstairs. Tifa rubbed the towel over the top of her head as she headed downstairs and continued to dry the rest of it as she sat on the base of the stairs not bothering to look at her family.

"Ahem… Tifa you know Cloud came over for breakfast this morning." Her father said clearing his throat.

"Huh?" Tifa said raising her wet head. Seeing Cloud sitting at the breakfast table. His eyes were open wide and he was glaring down at the rich brown colored wooden floor.

"Oh hello Cloud" she said cheerfully going back to drying her hair. Then she remembered she was only in her robe. That would explain the look in his eyes.

"Ahh right I'll just be…Yeah going up stairs now." She said blushing as she inched her way nervously up stairs. A few minutes later she came down fully clothed in a pair of baggy jeans and a black t-shirt. Everyone at there breakfast talking of the activities that they were going to do today.

"Ok I found those tools and today you'll be making a sword blade out of this." Mr. Lockhart said handing Cloud a 14" steel bar. Cloud nodded his head.

"Tifa, you supervise him I have to be a the ShinRa mansion they requested I be there to pick up the order." Her father left and went outside with a small piece of paper gripped tightly in his hand. She knew how nervous her father got going over there. He knew that he did something even slightly wrong they could and would end his life.

"Ok sure I'll make sure he does it right." Tifa said grabbing a chair and taking it over to the smith area. Cloud stuck the bar into the fire and put on his leather glove. He leaned against the wall waiting for the steel to heat up. Tifa stared at him, and he half heartedly glared back. His eyes sometimes wondered off as if they were nervous to look at her, but he tried to keep them there.

"So now that all your favorite punching bags are gone what do you do for fun?" Tifa asked watching him.

"Your going to ask me questions all the time now aren't you?" He asked glancing at the fire.

"Yep! If you talked about yourself more I wouldn't have to." Tifa said slouching down in her chair.

"Well I guess I go up to mount. Nibel and slice some monsters. Or I could just find new punching bags." Cloud sighed, Tifa realized that Cloud had just attempted a joke.

"Really! Are really that violent of a person?" Tifa asked Cloud shook his head.

"No I do it because I want to be stronger." Cloud said picking up the sufficiently heated metal from the stove and putting it on the anvil. He brought the heavy hammer down steadily on it and it flattened slightly.

"Why" Cloud didn't answer. Tifa didn't find out why until much later.

"Okay don't answer that. Let's see why did you want to apprentice my father?" Tifa asked as Cloud did several hard pounds and stuck the metal back into the flame.

"It's good to experience many things." He said simply as he took the bar out of the fire and began to pound again. This went on for the rest of the day. Tifa would ask a question Cloud would answer and occasionally ask her one out of his own curiosity. The day ended and another one came. Cloud and her father worked on jobs as she asked Cloud more questions. Days became weeks and Cloud started to loosen up. One morning before work started Mr. Lockhart made an announcement to Tifa and Cloud who were sitting in the kitchen. Tifa was sharpening her nails and occasionally poking Cloud with the file to keep him from falling asleep on the table.

"Cloud…and Tifa you guys have the day off, but I suggest you pack some clothes tonight. Because tomorrow you're both going with me to Cosmo Canyon to get some special metals." Mr. Lockhart said putting out the fire in the smith.

"Special metal?" Cloud asked before Tifa could.

"Yeah ShinRa soldiers wants obsidian and the only place around her that we can get it is in Cosmo Canyon." Mr. Lockhart said as he packed his tools up in a smooth leather case. Cloud walked out the door and grabbed his thin sword from his front porch. Tifa slipped out the door while her parents were talking. She followed Cloud up to Mount Nibel as silently as she could. When he got to the base of the mountain he turned around.

"Tifa you really should stop following me." Cloud said as Tifa sighed and came out from the bush. She sighed that she was caught. Tifa thought she had been doing really well.

"Why _are_ you following me anyway?" Cloud said as she walked up to him.

"I got bored." Tifa shrugged and picked up his sword and swung it around for a bit.

"Oh…. your not going to ask me more questions are you?" He asked as he snatched his sword back and continued his hike up the mountain.

"No I think I know about everything there is to know about you." Tifa said following him.

"If I told you to leave, would you?" Cloud asked stepping up a particularly rocky path. Tifa slipped slightly and Cloud caught her by the wrist an steadied her.

"Nope…is that what your telling me to do?" she asked still following him. She remembered the last time she had been up here. She ended up in a coma for seven days. She didn't really remember what happened or what people had told her what happened for that matter.

"No…I was just asking" Cloud said as he continued to walk. Cloud, too, had an odd look on his face. He seemed sort of worried about her following him.

"So where we going?" Tifa asked running up next to him. Cloud looked at her from a bit with his eyebrows raised. Tifa stared into his pretty bright blue eyes. She never rally got a good look into them, but she always treasured the moment when she did.

"Oops…That was a question. I'm sorry." Tifa smiled innocently.

"I was going to kill some things, but I think I changed my mind." Cloud pointing to a small vine covered cave. Tifa gave him a doubtful look.

"Isn't that the road to the cemetery?" Tifa said raising one eyebrow. She wondered why he would take her there. Is Cloud really a psychopath and he was going to try to murder her there? Tifa's face grew pale and scared.

"There's a spot past the cemetery that's really nice." Cloud said slicing the vines on the cave entrance with his thin sword. The cave was very dark and damp during funerals people lit torches to make it brighter. Tifa grabbed the back of Cloud's shirt to make sure she didn't lose him.

"Scared?" he said kindly.

"A little, I've never been here except for funerals." She said squeezing the cloth of his shirt as the ground dipped a little. She was as equally scared of the cave as she was of him right now. Tifa started to laugh at herself in her head. Why should she be afraid of Cloud. If he tried anything she could kick his short little butt.

"It's okay were almost…. AHHHH!" Cloud screamed in fright as he pretended to fall.

"AHHHHHHH! WHAT?" Tifa screamed back. She jumped down wrapped her arms around his torso. Cloud started to laugh a little so Tifa hit him, and awkwardly got back up.

"That's not funny." She said sternly.

"Maybe not to you." She said with the humor still in his voice as he chopped the vines covering the exit. They entered the grassy field that was on a large sloped hill. The grass was long and dotted with tombstones. The high sloped hill overlooked a small lake that turned into a stream that Tifa often swam in. Cloud gave her wrist a tug and walked toward a small path imbedded in the long grass. Cloud stopped at a small bridge that dangled above the stream and put his hand out to stop Tifa.

"What?" She asked when he stopped her. Cloud used his feet to stomp on the bridge. He shrugged slightly and stepped onto it.

"It's always best to do that. This bridge breaks a lot." He nodded and walked on. Tifa hesitantly followed.

"I think it would've been better if you hadn't told me that." She said as she walked across the bridge. After several more minutes of walking they came to another small cave.

"Don't worry this ones really short." Cloud said as he stepped into it. Tifa still reached out and latched onto his shirt. A couple seconds later he led her out of the cave. When she stepped out onto the small cliff that overlooked some plains and wetlands. In the far distance was the small village of Rocket Town with it's large broken Rocket and small houses starting to surround it.

"This is…so beautiful." Tifa said looking to one side of cliff to the other.

"So are you…" Cloud said quietly.

"What?" Tifa said as she stopped looking over the scenery.

"Oh I said that it's much better at night." Cloud said realizing what he had just said and glaring over to an empty side of the cliff with his eyes wide with shock and embarrassment.


	3. Cosmo Canyon

**A/n:**Holy Hell! these chapters are long! But two chapters in one day! W00t!****If you haven't noticed I do still have a notoriously bad mouth...FUCK FUCKIDY FUCK FUCK FUCK!

_**Part one:**_

**Chapter 3**

**Cosmo Canyon**

After several hours the sun started to set and Cloud and Tifa headed back home. Cloud went back to his house and Tifa to hers. When Tifa entered her family had already finished dinner. Her mother put her plate on the table and continued doing dishes.

"So what did you do today?" Her mother asked from the kitchen. Tifa could already sense the questions her mother wanted to ask.

"Well I…babyset the Griever boys." Tifa lied. She didn't want her mother getting any ideas. Well anymore ideas at least.

"Uh…huh" Her mother answered putting away the dried plates. Tifa banged her head on the table. Her mother already knew she was lying. She always knew that kind of stuff.

"So how is Cloud then?" Her mother said sorting the silverware.

"I wasn't with Cloud." Tifa answered still trying to prolong her lie.

"We saw you follow him." Her mother said, exposing her facade. Tifa cringed apparently she wasn't a very good ninja.

"Ok Cloud's fine" Tifa said with her voice being smothered by the dish towel on the table.

"Damn straight he is." Her mother said smiling

"MOTHER!" Tifa surprised at her mother's words. That was definitely not something you want to hear your mother say.

"What?" Her mother shrugged. Tifa sighed and finished her dinner and went to pack.

Amero's Fanfiction Revolution

"So Cloud how was your day off?" Cloud's mother asked quietly.

"It was alright" He answered play with his food. He already knew what was coming. His mother was relatively quiet. That made their house a very silent place at night when he was home.

"So what did you do?" His mother asked making him use his I knew she was going to press this' face.

"Went for a hike" he said plainly. He was trying to not give to much information. The last thing he needed was his mother butting into his almost none existent social life.

"Are you going out tonight?" His mother said somewhat sad that her son wouldn't open up to her. He rarely said anything. Just like his late father.

"Not tonight. I'm kind of tired and I have to get up early tomorrow." Clouds answered making his mother make a face.

"That's different." She asked worriedly. Cloud put his plate in the sink and plopped down on his soft bed.

"…I packed your bag for your trip." His mother said, throwing it at the bottom of his bed. Cloud kicked the bag off of his bed with his foot and closed his eyes.

"Thank you" Cloud said tiredly soon after he fell asleep. The next morning Cloud woke up early took a shower then grabbed his bag. He met Tifa and her father outside their house loading things in the truck. Cloud threw his bag on and hoped in the back of the truck since the front had tons of tools there, and they were both to tired to move them. Tifa hoped in too. Mr. Lockhart said goodbye to his wife and hugged her tightly.

"We should be at Cosmo Canyon before nightfall, so sit tight you two." He said to them as thr truck started up with a growl.

Amero's Fanfiction Revolution

Tifa sat quietly for about 20 minutes watching the town grow smaller.

"You know I've never been to Cosmo Canyon before." Cloud said suddenly.

"It's great there it's very nice at sunset." Tifa said smiling at him for being the first to say something. That was the last thing she had really expected him to do. Actually she thought he had more of a chance of jumping out of the moving truck before starting conversation.

"If I didn't know better you were trying to start a conversation. Though your not very good at it." Tifa smirked at Cloud who blushed slightly, but tried to hide it.

"Well I'm trying and that's all that counts." Cloud said sounding almost confident about his answer.

"Yeah, I guess" Tifa laughed.

"You know what, I think I want to join SOLDIER" Cloud said randomly. Tifa's eyes shifted back to Cloud's face. Why would he want to join ShinRa?

"Then join. I think you're strong enough" Tifa said shrugging her shoulders trying not to press the matter.

"Yeah maybe I will" Cloud said staring off into the distance "I'm going to be as strong as Sephiroth someday you know." Cloud said confidently.

"Oh confident are we?" Tifa said a bit sarcastically.

"Hey I will you just watch." Cloud said, cheesily pounding his fist to his chest. Cloud and Tifa remained quiet for awhile until the grass started to turn into dust.

"We're close" Tifa said as she watched the sun disappear behind the cliffs of Cosmo Canyon. About an hour later the truck stopped at the base of the canyon. Cloud who was stretched out in the truck and starting to doze off was shaken awake.

"Well we're here. So come on young apprentices let's go find some metal." Mr. Lockhart said as he grabbed his bag from the front seat. The two tired teens got out of the truck and followed him up the stairs. Inside they saw native people walking around and some were following a floating old man who was chasing what looked like a very large cat with a magenta mane.

"Nanaki get back here what did I tell you about playing with my machine." The old man yelled floating after him.

"OI BURGENHAGEN, come here" Mr. Lockhart yelled at the old man. The old man abandoned his chase, but the other men didn't.

"Ah Andrew it's good to see you again. I suppose you didn't come to visit did you." Burgenhagen said weakly, shaking Mr. Lockhart's hand.

"Oh I always come to visit, but while I'm here my apprentices and I need some obsidian." Mr. Lockhart said happily.

"Ahh man that stuff is in demand lately. Let me guess ShinRa. Leave it to ShinRa to want the rarest metals. Any ways talk to Ziggurat, I think he'll give you what you need." Burgenhagen said pointing to a strong looking man who was dressed like a tribal man.

"Say now would your apprentices like to help us catch my grandson?" Burgenhagen said to Cloud and Tifa as Mr. Lockhart went to talk to Ziggurat.

"You mean the cat thing?" Cloud asked scratching the back of his poky head. Burgenhagen nodded his head. Cloud walked over to some barrels and reached in when he pulled his hand out he had Nanaki by the mane.

"Ho ho hooooo very good. Little devil has been playing with stuff all day. I ought to chain you to the couch!" Burgenhagen said happily and he picked up Nanaki and threatened him. Mr. Lockhart beckoned them over and shoved several heavy bars of metal in their hands. They walked back to the truck and threw them in.

"Damn that's a lot like work." Mr. Lockhart said throwing the last of his bars down inside of the truck.

"Let's go get a hotel room." He said as he walked up the stairs. Inside the hotel they got one room with three beds.

"You kids go do what you want I'm going to bed." Mr. Lockhart said as he got under the covers. Cloud stood there for a moment before being dragged out of the room.

"Now it's my turn to show you something." Tifa smirked and dragged him along past the crowded Cosmo candle and up the stair past the shops. Soon Tifa led him to a ladder leading up. To the very top cliff in Cosmo Canyon is where it took them. Tifa led him to a ledge facing the sunset. The sun was merely a slit in the sky and the stars were starting to come out.

"My spots better" Cloud joked. He was partial to hist spot mainly because it was his, but this was nice too.

"Yeah it probably is, but mine would be better if this tower wasn't here." Tifa said smartly pointing at the large building behind them.

"What is that tower for anyway?" Cloud asked, perhaps they weren't supposed to be up here.

"Hmm let's find out." She said running over to it.

"Hey wait I don't think that's a…good idea." Cloud said as he chased her into the tower. Inside was just a kitchen a door and a ladder. By the couch was little Nanaki chained to the table.

"Hey will _you_ let me go?" the large cat asked calmly in his surprisingly deep voice.

"You talked?" Tifa said

"I'm Burgenhagen's grandson" he retorted. Tifa continued to look around when she opened the observatory door.

"Say what's this Nanaki?" Tifa asked looking around and picking up some things.

"Ho ho hoo young apprentices, admiring my work?" Burgenhagen asked as he walked in.

"I see you did chain him?" Cloud said smiling slightly. Burgenhagen rubbed his point head and laughed.

"I would if I knew what it was." Tifa said as she looked through some telescopes.

"Oh well then come in and I'll show you my latest invention." Burgenhagen said pulling Cloud in and closing the door. The old man pulled some levers and Cloud and Tifa were lifted up.

"It's a rough sketch of the universe." Burgenhagen said proudly.

"This is cool" Cloud said in awe of how detailed it was for a rough sketch. Tifa ran around admiring the planets.

"Now it's very rough I'm still missing some things, but it's still pretty cool. Nanaki was fiddling with it this morning and he lost some information." Burgenhagen sighed. The machine started to shut down.

"Well it needs time to recharge. Maybe the next time you come it will be better. You should go there's a nice party around the Cosmo candle…. that is unless you want to be alone." Burgenhagen said slyly hinting that they might be 'together'.

"No! No, were going" Cloud said pulling Tifa out of the room.

"Man that was cool" Tifa said once they got outside.

"Sure was…" Cloud said looking at the sky quietly. Tifa noticed that he was blushing again. Did what the old man say bother him that much?

"Your spot it pretty nice." Cloud added staring up at the brightly star dotted sky..

"Thank you…" Tifa bowed in honor..


	4. Solemn Cry of Death

_**Part One:**_

**Chapter Four**

**Solemn Cry of Death**

**  
"Wakey, wakey!" Tifa's father said as he gently shook her awake. Tifa groaned but got up anyway. She walked though the fur-covered doorway out into the crisp morning air. The sun was shining, but through a thin layer of fog. Cloud was sprawled out by the Cosmo Candle waiting for them. Tifa and her father walked by him and he got up and followed.. Mr. Lockhart started up the truck and the two kids took their seats by the obsidian bars. For many hours they sat in silence staring at the scenery that was passing by. Clouds' head started to lull off to one side when he heard a small short howl.**

"What was that?" Tifa asked. Cloud pointed to the cliffs that they were going by. Standing on the cliff was a silver furred Nibel wolf. They were unusual because the Nibel wolf was usually brown or black. He stood on the top of the cliff with thick clouds in the sky behind him.

"A silver Nibel wolf? That's weird I've never seen one before." Tifa said staring at it in awe.

"He's cool, isn't he? I think he is the last of his kind now." Cloud said smiling softly.

"You've seen one before?" Tifa asked curiously.

"Yeah…he was just a puppy then… I saw him and his family running across the plains from my spot. That was a couple of days after my father died, I think." Cloud said quietly, but his soft smile still remained. He squinted hard as if he was trying to remember something, or forget it.

"I'm sorry…" Tifa said looking down at her hands.

"Don't be…being sorry won't do any good. You know what I named him." Cloud said leaning up and waving to the silver wolf fading into the distance.

"What?" Tifa said still not looking at him.

"Kuja… " Cloud said briskly getting to his knees and watching the wolf start to run after the truck.

"Kuja?" Tifa was shocked. It was sort of a weird name for anyone. She wondered where he got it from.

"I don't know why I called him that it just seemed like a wolf-like name." Cloud said drifting off into his dream like state again. Tifa leaned her head on the railing of the truck and stared at the ground.

An hour or two later the truck pulled into Nibelhiem and screeched to a halt.

"Have a nice time back there, didja?" Mr. Lockhart asked as he opened the door.

"Well now teef go up there and tell the ShinRa that we have the metal they wanted. Cloud and I will lug these heavy son of a bitches back to the shop." Mr. Lockahart said after receiving no answers to his previous question. Cloud picked up as many bars as he could carry and walked off. Tifa ran down to the gates of the ShinRa mansion. She nervously pushed open the gates and scooted towards the door. When she raised her hand to knock a tall ShinRa soldier opened the door. Tifa almost fell to the ground in fright due to his face mask, but stood strong.

"What do you want, kid?" The man said with sternness clear in his voice. Eventually Tifa figured out what the garbled words meant..

"The blacksmith said to tell you that your metal was delivered." Tifa said shakily.

"All right I'll tell my boss now scoot!" The man said forcefully. Tifa hurriedly exited the yard and walked toward her house. Cloud stood by the door staring with heavy concentration at his feet.

"Hey is something wrong?" Tifa asked a bit worried by Cloud's behavior.

"Ummm maybe you shouldn't go in your house for a bit." Cloud said trying his best to hold back his tears.

"Why?" She asked reaching for the doorknob. Cloud immediately latched onto her wrist and pulled her gentle hand back.

"You should just trust me on this." Cloud said wiping a tear that rolled down his cheek away. Tifa saw this and her face went pale. She ripped her hand free and opened the door. Inside the rank smell of death filled the air. In her father's arms was her mother's limp body. She turned around and wrapped her arms around Cloud that was standing inside the house. It was slightly awkward due to the difference in size. Cloud was a little shocked, but wrapped his arms around her trying to comfort her. Tifa buried her head in his shirt that laid loosely on his shoulder and started to cry. The house was torn apart. Drawers were opened papers were thrown about. Blood marked the walls in the kitchen and was stained all over Mrs. Lockhart's dress. Tifa's mother had been dead for sometime her body was tinted with blue except for the pink and red around the laceration on her neck. Blood was splattered all over the floor too. The smell in the house was starting to make Cloud's stomach turn. He unwrapped his arms and led Tifa outside. She collapsed on the porch outside her house Cloud laid her down and went to go get the town headman. A few minutes later her returned with an old man running close behind. Tifa was sitting up staring blankly into nothingness. She started to get up and walk out of town towards the mountains.

"Where are you going?" Cloud said frantically running up to her.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Please Cloud stay here." Tifa said as she continued walking. Cloud stood in the middle of the street and watched her as she walked away. He didn't want to stay there. He didn't want her to leave him there, but he knew she needed some time. Tifa's father walked out sometime later looking very dazed. Cloud walked up to him, but was pushed to the ground. Tifa's father also walked off, not towards the mountains, to his truck. He got in and sped off. Cloud looked around for a bit not really sure of what to do before he went into his house. He told his mother and she also started crying. Cloud sat on the stairs by the furnace for hours constantly glancing out the window to see if one of them had came back. His mother eventually fell asleep and not one of them had come back yet. Cloud went outside and sat on the porch. Cloud sat on the steps clicking his tongue eventually her started tapping his foot impatiently.

"Oh screw this." Cloud said after several more minutes of fidgeting. He got off and ran out towards the mountains. Cloud panted as he reached the cave to the cemetery. As he enter he noticed that three of the torches were light and one was missing. Now Cloud was sure were Tifa was. Cloud walked quickly through the cemetery he always felt like he was being watched when he was there. Then he came to the small bridge he used to cross, underneath it he heard the sloshing of the stream he looked over the edge to see a silver wolf's dull red eyes staring back at him.

"Kuja…it's good to see you're alive. Though I had secretly hoped not to see you again, but it happens I guess." Cloud said standing stoically on the bridge. The thing he didn't tell Tifa about that wolf was that it was attracted to death and the only times he'd ever seen it was around the times people died. The wolf looked at him for a second Cloud thought he saw a look of understanding, but Kuja didn't stay around long enough for Cloud to look again. Cloud walked out to the cliff and felt a dizzying sensation of relief as he found Tifa with her head on her knees asleep. Cloud picked her up and carried her down the mountain. Cloud wished he wasn't so small, or so weak. He wished that it would be a breeze for him to carry her down the mountain, but it was quite a hard task. He was very grateful that she was as light as she was and the stars shone with great force that night or this would have made for a more laborious job. Later he made it back to town and set her down on the porch of her house. He opened to door and knocked backwards by the scent, the body of her mother was gone but the smell and blood still remained. Cloud closed the door and thought for a second there wasn't much of a choice she was going to have to stay at his house. He sighed heavily and picked he up again this time she stirred a little but didn't wake up. Cloud took her into the house and laid her on his bed. Cloud was so physically and emotionally exhausted he kind of felt angered that Tifa got his bed instead of him, but that passed in a matter of seconds. He took a blanket from a closet and laid down next to the furnace and fell asleep quickly.


	5. Leaving You

**A/N:** Another day, another revision! Oh thank god these chapters keep getting shorter. Oh how I thank my lazy self!

**_Part One_******

**Chapter Five**

**Leaving you**

Tifa felt her mind being torn from the blackness of a dreamless sleep as she realized she was waking up. Opening her sore tear stung eyes and stared at the wooden ceiling. For the mere minute she had forgotten yesterday's events and her mind was blissful and content. Then her mind roused itself and the memories hit her like a sledgehammer. She felt hot stinging her coming to her eyes as she let a single tear roll down her cheek. She turned her head to the side and let several more lone tears caress her face. She stopped thinking for a moment and realized this wasn't her house. Propping herself up on her elbows she looked around and saw a lady with long slightly spiky hair standing in front of a stove.

"Ummm…" Tifa said quietly with that oh so familiar question we all know going through her head.

"Oh your up earlier than I expected…" Mrs. Strife said slightly startled. She set a pan back on the stove and walked over to sit on the edge of her son's bed that she was using. She had found her son curled in a little ball by the furnace this morning and found Tifa in his bed. She didn't really have to think long about what happened. Cloud got up silently several minutes later and left without a single word to her.

"Where am I?" She asked feeling as if her brain was dry and empty.

"Oh you should know this is Cloud's house. I don't blame you he never let's anyone in here." She said patting Tifa's blanket covered shin with a little cheer in her voice.

"Ohh…. And Cloud is…Where?" She said slowly and weakly. She was still in a moment of stupor. She didn't really remember how she got there, in Cloud's house.

"Ahh yes he went…over to your house with the headman, yes that's it, that boy never really tells me where he goes." Mrs. Strife said slowly at first as she cooked some food. Tifa undid the covers and hurriedly went out the door.

"Ahh one in the same those two are…kids these days" Mrs. Strife said closing the door. Tifa walked across the rain soaked grass to her house. The sky was cloudy and threatened to storm at any second.

"I guess the sky cries for me too." Tifa said as she opened the door and being greeted by the scent of lilacs. The contents of the house were still askew but the blood was gone. In the kitchen was Cloud on his hands and knee vigorously scrubbing the kitchen floor in his back pocket was a can of scented air spray. If the situation had been different she would've found this funny, but it wasn't.

"Uhhhh…" Tifa said slightly confused. Cloud heard the door open and then a confused voice. He looked up and stared at a tired looking Tifa. The vibrant chocolate-covered cherry eyes that he had fell in love with were dull and weary she worn a expression of a forlorn blankness.

"Hey, are you ok?" He asked trying best not to show his sadness.

"I am…Ok I guess." Tifa said noticing his stare. She could tell he was trying to cover some emotion up and she knew why. The way her looked at her was a bit unnerving it was one of those gazes that would make you squirm if exposed to it for long amounts of time.

"What are you doing?" She asked, interrupting the long silence that went between them.

"Headman assigned me to cleaning so you and your father can live here again." Cloud said smiling for a brief second.

"My father…where is he?" She asked as her eyes widen realizing that she had left him alone yesterday. Cloud mentally cringed and lowered his head now realizing that he was still on his hands and knees.

"What is it?" Her voice full of concern. Cloud got up and nervously tried to explain things.

"He…Left shortly after you did with his truck…And he didn't come back…Well he did but only to put this on my door." Cloud uncrummpled a piece of paper from his pants and handed it to Tifa. It read:

Tifa and Cloud,

Please Tifa take care of yourself. I apologize that I cannot be with you at this time. I would just be so hard you're so much like your mother I don't know if I can control myself. I might come back some day, but if I don't rememberI just wanted to say that I love you very much. Cloud take care of Tifa be her father for me. Take care of the shop too whatever you make is yours. For I have no use for anything, not anymore.

With as much love as I posses right now,

_Your father and boss Andrew Lockhart  
_Tifa blinked at the note and read it over and over again.

"When did this get here?" She asked Cloud who had been wiping the floor with a cloth that was under his foot.

"This morning when I went to the headman it was tacked to my door." Cloud said still concentrating hard on the floor. Tifa stifled a sob with a sigh and threw the note away.

"He...Left because I looked…Like my mother." Tifa said feeling like she could collapse on the floor. Her left eye twitched a little, but she didn't notice it.

"Are you ok, Tifa?" Cloud said hurriedly once he saw her eye twitch. He sensed something wasn't right, and walked cautiously over to her.

"No, no Cloud I don't think I am." She said with a small cruel laugh in her voice. Tifa felt her chin hit her chest with a small thud' she started to laugh a little.

"He..Hahaha…Left…Hahaha…Because I looked…Hahahahaha…Like my mother Hahahahahaha." Tifa said quietly. Cloud was starting to get a little perturbed. He slowly stepped over to her and grabbed her arms.

"Tifa snap out of it." He said a bit forcefully as he shook her a little. Tifa's limbs started to violently thrash at him. He wrapped his arms around her arms and kept them securely at her sides. Her back was leaned against his chest. He wrestled her to the ground so the she would stop kicking him. Eventually her screaming ceased and she cried into his tight fitting black shirt.

"Cloud…. He left because of me…" She cried into his shirt. Cloud wanted to say that it wasn't her fault but it kind of was. He wanted to comfort her, but her didn't now how. He just lowered his head into her messy long brown hair and inhaled. Her hair smelled like the rainforest. He wonder who would want to put her though so much. The Headman had said that it was a robber. He wondered if that person knew that they would be splitting up a family. Why did he have to kill her and cause so much pain? What gave him that right? His mother had said once that no one had the right to take the life of another. She was right no one does. Cloud furrowed his eyebrows he wanted to cry too, but he remembered Mr. Lockhart's note. It had said to be like a father for Tifa. He had to be strong for her. Besides crying made him feel childish. Tifa fell silent it seemed she had passed out. Cloud carried her to his house and laid her in his bed. His mother gave him a look, but he left and continued to straighten her house.


	6. Craig T Young

**A/n: **Well that didn't take me very long. Perhaps I should start on my other stories revisions. I only did on chapter of that last night because I was tired and I wasn't in the mood. I wish I could post these, but I have to wait 3 days. So I Shall commence in talking to myself.

**_Part One:_**

**Chapter 6**

**Craig T. Young**

"Ok done with the first floor." Cloud sighed happily "just one more to go." Cloud dumped his bucket of pink water in the sink and trudged upstairs. The upstairs was in fairly better shape. There was no blood on the floor just two ransacked rooms. Cloud started folding the clothes that were strewn about and put them in the dresser draws. While he was doing this he noticed a picture that lay on Tifa's bed. The glass was badly shattered, but the picture remained in tacked and unscathed. The picture showed a beaming Mr. Lockhart and a very exhausted looking Mrs. Lockhart in a bed holding a little baby witch Cloud assumed to be Tifa.

"So he did come back to the house." Cloud said taking the picture out of the broken frame and setting it on top of Tifa's piano. An hour later Cloud had finished and was liberally spraying the lilac scented air spray around the house to drowned out the smell of death. After he was done Cloud stuck his head out an open window and sat like that for a while.

"Ahem. You boy tell me where the blacksmith is?" a tall black man dressed in a shinra uniform asked. Cloud gave him the dirtiest look he could muster for calling him a boy.

"He is not here" Cloud said coldly. He got up and opened the door to the house. He stepped out by the significantly taller and more muscular soldier.

"Is this not his house?" The man said keeping his monotone voice.

"Yeah it is his house, but he is not here. I'm his apprentice is there something I can help you with?" Cloud asked trying to be as polite as he could tot he man that slightly annoyed him with his tallness.

"How is the progress on our Obsidian blades?" the ShinRa soldier asked keeping his ground and staring down at the small boy who smelled of girlie lilacs.

"None existent." Cloud said with a hint of smugness in his voice.

"Why?" The man asked coldly

"Like I said he is not here and I don't think he'll be back soon." Cloud said strongly.

"Listen closely boy, these blades are very, very important and if there not done in three weeks when next I come. I'll make you regret it." The tall black man said lifting Cloud up by the shirt collar up to his face.

"They'll be done by then." Cloud said slowly nodding his head. Cloud could practically feel himself snarling at the man.

"Good" The strong soldier said as he set him on the ground. Cloud smoothed out his wrinkled shirt and looked at the neatly piled cylinders that laid by the door.

"Umm well I guess this shouldn't be a problem." Cloud said moving the neat pile by the metal oven in the smith.

Amero should've gotten more sleep

Tifa had been sitting on Cloud's bed during this watching. What really caught her attention was Cloud being lifted several feet off the ground by a ShinRa soldier. She stood up and waited a little bit then she left the Strife house and headed to her house. As she passed a very angry ShinRa soldier she heard him mumble.

"Stupid little punk getting all smug with me…Damn girlie boy and his lilacs"

Tifa giggled slightly at the last part then shook her head she knew Cloud couldn't help but fight with people, but with a ShinRa soldier doing that was going to get him killed. She stepped into her house and watched Cloud push the pile of obsidian over to the oven.

"Cloud were you fighting with a ShinRa soldier?" she said sternly putting her hand on her slender hip.

"Maybe a little, he really wasn't listening to me and he called me a boy." Cloud said continuing to roll the obsidian over to the oven with his foot.

"What did he want?" She asked curiously.

"To know how the obsidian stuff was going." He answered honestly.

"And you said?" She asked fearing what he said to the soldier to make him so mad.

"What else, none existent. Then the man threatened me so I have some work to do." Cloud said lighting a fire in the oven.

"You know fighting with them will get you killed, right?" She asked receiving no answer from Cloud.

"Ok well then let's get to work." Tifa said with a smile glint of happiness in her voice.

"Let's as in you _and_ me." Cloud said cautiously.

"Yeah obsidian's different than other metal and besides if I keep busy then I don't have to think." Tifa said grabbing some tools.

"Good point" Cloud said grabbing a piece of obsidian and rolling it over in his fingers.

"So what is so special about this stuff?" He asked throwing it to his other hand.

"Well it's stronger and doesn't heat as well so it takes a lot longer to heat and it doesn't get as hot." Tifa said sticking two bars in the now hot oven. Five hours and two semi complete blades later there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get that." Cloud said quickly walking to the door before there was any argument.

"Oh hello Cloud" Said the town Headman. Craig T. Young or The Headman' as he was always referred to was a relatively old man. He was the headman of the town since well before Cloud and Tifa were born. Craig had a smooth gray beard that reached down to the middle of his neck he also had matching silver hair that was cut short and combed to the sides. Usually he would wear a hat to cover his hair, but he was showing his condolences and keeping it off. Craig always wore a worn brown leather trench coat that covered his red vest and black pants.

"Good Evening Headman" Cloud said holding the door open allowing him to come in.

"Goodness Cloud, you sure did a good job cleaning this house up." He said in a surprised yet solemn voice as he put his hat and trench coat on the rack.

"Please take a seat Mr. Young. I'll prepare some tea." Tifa said putting some water on the kettle.

"Oh no that's ok I don't think I'll be long. My condolences go to you Tifa. It truly was terrible what happened to your mother." The Headman said as he sat in the chair.

"Yes it was." Said as her voice dropped several decibels.

"What brings you here Headman, Sir." Cloud said politely as he tried to sway him off of that subject.

"Oh well since Tifa's father had well…left she either has to stay at my house or at someone else's until her father returned.

"Ummm would it be fine if she stayed at my house with my mother and me." Cloud said with relative shyness in his voice.

"Oh yes that would be fine, but don't you only have two beds?" the headman said.

"I never really use mine." Cloud said lying

"Oh well ok if Tifa has no objections." He said looking Tifa's way. She just shrugged.

"Ok then that's all I needed to know. I trust you'll both be at the funeral in a couple days." The headman said putting on his trench coat and hat. They both nodded their heads and he left.

"Why did you say that?" Tifa wondered why he had lied. She didn't really want to stay with the Headman, but still didn't see why he would lie.

"Because your father said to take care of you. Plus did you really want to stay with him and his son." Cloud said smirking a little.

"…Now that I think of it. No, not really." Tifa said thinking about it a little. The Headman and his son were nice and polite, but were as dull as nails. That's probably why they are such good leaders.

"You clean up I have to tell my mother that you'll be staying for a while." Cloud said starting towards the door.

"Hey wait where are you going to sleep?" Tifa asked him before he left the house.

"Hmmm…either the floor or over here I guess." Cloud said as he left and shut the door behind him.


	7. Funeral Daze

**A/N:** AHHH...A good shower does a person good.

**_Part one_******

**Chapter seven**

**Funeral daze**

Cloud straightened his tie in the full body mirror in his house. Today was the day of the funeral for Tifa's mother. Cloud hoped that her father would come and hopefully stay. Tifa's face might not have shown it, but inside she was aching inside, he could tell.

"Cloud you look so handsome. You should consider a job with the Turks." His mother said clamping her hand on his slumping shoulder. Cloud grunted and started towards the door. In the middle of town everyone gathered. Even some of Tifa's old friends that had heard came back for the funeral, much to Cloud's dismay. He remembered the looks on their faces when she told them where she was staying. For those two days before the funeral while they were all around her spent most of his time in the shop. Occasionally she could come in to make sure he was ok and to spend time with him, but that never lasted long. Usually Biggs, Wedge, or more often Jesse would come in to see her.

"Morning Cloud." The Headman said tipping his hat a little. Today he wasn't wearing his trench coat, but a nice dark blue suit."Listen I trust you won't refuse to carry that coffin to it's resting place if I ask?" he added.

"Of course I wouldn't refuse." Cloud said, he was weary on how he was goign to keep it even with the other bearers. They were all much taller than him, but he was determined to find a way.

"Good bo…man." He said as he walked over to another group of people. Cloud smiled a little at the fact that he didn't call him a boy.

"Weeeell if it ain't my favorite legalized midget!" A tall, bowling ball-esque man said pushing him with his large belly.

"Morning EJ." Cloud said coldly. The tall round kid stared at him coldly back with his beady brown eyes. EJ was the typical bully when he went to school. He was fat, strong, arrogant, and ugly. He always tried to pick fights with Cloud, but Cloud usually won because of EJ's clumsiness.

"You'd better not drop that pretty ladies coffin." He threatened with his red swollen finger pointing at the coffin. Cloud gave him a smug look and opened his mouth, but was cut off.

"Why would he do that?" A strong voice came from behind Cloud.

"Oh now it's just a party." Cloud muttered to himself as he felt his fists clench in his pocket. Tyler and EJ punched each other in some form of strange manly greeting. He wondered if someone had done that to him in the past if her had punched their lights out.

"Man you've changed since you gots married." EJ said tumbling off.

"Hey." He simply said to Cloud. Cloud stared at him for a bit. He wasn't sure what to expect. It wasn't everyday he stood in front of Tyler Perrin and he wasn't beating his brains out.

"Tifa tells me your taking good care of her." He said after Cloud didn't talk but continued to stare. Cloud just nodded his head, suspicious at his motives.

"That's good to hear. Now I bet your wondering why I'm not beating the crap out of you." Tyler said smirking a little.

"The thought crossed my mind." Cloud said with a small hint of coldness in his voice.

"Well I reckon it's not nice to fight at a funeral and well since you are taking care of Tifa I figure I'd repay the favor…And Monica told me not to." Tyler said putting on his charming smile. Cloud smiled too.

"I guessed you were saving your self from some major injuries." Cloud joked.

"Hey it's time to start." The Headman called over the crowd.

"Now I know it is the tradition for the Headman to help carry the coffin, but I'm a little old so my son's going to do it." The Headman said yanking his son on stage. The Headman's son Daniel was the shyest person in town next to Cloud of course. He had thick brown hair that was combed back. He had a mature looking face that was always clean shaved and he had loving green eyes.

"Well then let's get the other coffin carriers up here. Tyler, Cloud, Paul, Peter, and Kurt get up here." The Headman called. Cloud took his place at the back of the coffin behind Tyler. They started to hike out of town and to the graveyard in the Nibel Mountains. The coffin bearers walked in front guarded by several other men from the monsters around and the rest of the village walked a short distance behind them.

"How you doing back there shorty!" Tyler called out laughing. Cloud had to hold the coffin well above his head with his arm to keep it even, but thankfully her was strong enough to do it."So Cloud you think Tifa's pops is going to show." Tyler said as they continued their trek.

"Let's hope so. I think she really needs him to be there for her." Cloud said shifting the coffin a bit. He started to wonder where she was. She didn't have any family to walk up there with her. Maybe she was coming with his mother.

"I heard one of those ShinRa guy's say there was a guy camping near the Nibel reactor. Think it's him?" Tyler asked looking over his shoulder to see exactaly how Cloud was holding that coffin up.

"Could be, I guess." Cloud said simply, shifting the railing to the other hand.

"We should go check it out before I leave." Tyler said. It took them two hours of marching to reach the graveyard. When they did every coffin bearer, even Cloud, was glad to be rid of their load. The ceremony was short and simple and was over quickly. As the coffin was buried people started to file away. There was only a select few that remained. Tifa and Cloud of course remained, as did Monica, Tyler, Biggs, Wedge, and Jesse. Tifa stood there and silently wept, Cloud awkwardly put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. Soon her friends started to gather at her side, and he retreated to a nearby rock.

"We should go back, it's going to rain." Tyler said after awhile. They all started to walk back down the path as a group when Cloud heard the snapping of a twig.

Cloud stopped and looked around. Tyler stopped as well, but everyone else kept walking. Twigs snapped again and then they heard something take off running. Cloud immediately took off running after it followed by Tyler. Cloud chased the weaving figure down the sloping hill. The figure was wearing a hooded jacket that cloaked his figure. He was headed toward a river with a strong current. The man grabbed a rope and swung across Cloud and Tyler waited for the rope to return, but the mystery man cut it off with his sword.

"Who was that guy" Tyler asked in an exasperated voice. Cloud just shook his head. He knew who it was there was only one person who would hide in the bushes during a funeral. Why would Tifa's father run away though? Better yet why would he hide at his own wife's funeral? Did he really want to avoid Tifa that much?

"We've got to pay a visit to that guy near the reactor?" Cloud said looking up at the taller man next to him.

"You think that guy was him?" Tyler asked

"There's no doubt in my mind anymore. The guy that's up there has to be him. I made that damn sword..." Cloud said in a voice full of determination and detestation.


	8. Soiled Sight by a Miracle of Nature

**A/N:** Man these revisions take up a good portion of my day...I noticed that With every sad chapter I always end up ruining the seriousness, but adding something funny...I have yet to decide if that's good or bad. Meh, all gramatical errors near the end are meant to be. So if I pit 'me' instead of 'my' that's how its s'posta be.

**_Part one_**

**Chapter eight**

**Soiled sight by a miracle of nature**

"Hey get up if we are going to make it up there we have to leave now." Tyler said shaking cloud who was sleeping on the couch in Tifa's living room. Cloud grunted and lazily got up.

Amero Loves The Music

Tifa woke up several hours after Cloud and Tyler had left.

"Good Morning, Mrs. Strife" Tifa said as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Morning" She answered, sitting at the table reading the newspaper.

"Did Cloud not come back last night?" Tifa asked noticing he was not around. Generally he wasn't around in the morning, but he wasn't there when she had fallen asleep. She even waited for him to return, but sometime after her friends tried to console her he disappeared. Biggs, Wedge, and Jesse left slightly after the funeral and went back to Midgar, but Monica and Tyler had remained.

"No, not last night this morning him and this other kid stopped in for some breakfast. I think they said they were going for a hike." Mrs. Strife said continuing to read the newspaper. Tifa shrugged and got up and went outside. It was a nice morning outside clouds dotted the sky but the sun still shined brightly.

"Yo Tif!" Called Monica from the other side of town.

"Hey!" She answered simply. She wasn't really in the talking mood. Not until she found out where Cloud was.

"I heard both the Cloud and Tyler went off on a hike." Monica said happily swinging her hands from side to side.

"Creepy, huh?" Tifa laughing a little. She was somewhat relieved. Cloud could take care of himself if Tyler decided to jump him.

"No I think it would be better for your future husband and mine to get along." Monica said clasping her hands together.

"Yeah I guess…WHAT!" Tifa said allowing her words to sink in.

"Just kidding…Or am I? Anyway let's go for a hike of our own. Like down to that stream or something. Ya know do a little swimming." Monica suggested giggling like a mad schoolgirl every so often.

"Uhh Yeah ok I don't have much else to do." Tifa said going in her house and putting on her bikini under her clothes.

Amero is tired

"Damn this steep mountain" Tyler grumbled as he hiked the steep ledges of Mount Nibel.

"This is something like work, huh?" Cloud said trying to regain his footing after he slipped several feet on a patch of loose rock.

"It better be him or I'm going to lay the smack down on those ShinRa soldiers." Tyler said as they both reached flat ground. Finally they were nearing the Mt. Nibel reactor. They both could tell. The dirt around the reactor was dark and discolored after having large amounts of mako sucked from it. They stumbled upon the mako fountain and near the fountain was a pitched cream colored tent.

"Good were here." Tyler sighed loudly. Cloud 'shhhed' him, but it was too late. The sound of clinking metal and rustling trash erupted from the tent.

"Eh who's out there!" A gruff voice said stumbling outside the tent with a shotgun witch he aimed sloppily at them.

"Mr. Lockhart?" Cloud asked curiously.

"Yeah what's it to…oh Cloud good to see ya how's it going!" A slightly drunken Mr. Lockhart smiled wearily. It was Tifa's father, but he looked different his once smooth face was riddled with stubble. His eyes were bloodshot and the rank smell of liquor surrounded him like an ominous aura.

"What did you do to yourself man." Tyler said tilting his head back from the strong smell emanating from him.

"Oh well I just been sitting here enjoyin' the rest of me life." Mr. Lockhart in his barely decipherable drunken tongue. Mr. Lockhart wobbled around slightly before he found himself leaning on the mako fountain.

"You don't plan on going back to Tifa then." Cloud mutter sadly sounding slightly hurt. Mr. Lockhart laughed and glared down into the small pool of mako that lay inside the fountian. Cloud opened his eyes wide with shock as he spit into the blueish green pool causing it to ripple like thick mercury.

"That stupid bitch…Nah!…She's to much like that fuckin' wife o' mine" He said leaning his shotgun up against the fountain and staggering forward.

"Hey don't call your daughter that. I don't care how drunk you are…" Tyler said running up to the guy and grabbing his shirt collar forcefully.

"Hey I can call her whatever I wanna she is as you said my daughter. Fuck if she was a little cuter I'd bang the shit out of her." Mr. Lockhart said starting to giggle like a leprechaun. Cloud had heard enough he took the hilt of his sword and smacked the back of his head sending him to the ground. Cloud practically pounced on top of the fallen man and began to pummel him with his fists. Cloud beat him until blood from his nose and mouth covered his fists. Tyler quickly pulled Cloud off of him and dragged him away kicking and screaming. After Cloud had calmed a bit Mr. Lockhart got up and reached for his loaded shotgun.

"Woah shit! Come on Cloud let's go!" Tyler pulled Cloud into the brush by his shoulder until Cloud started to run from the horrible sight by himself.

A/n: Well I took the funny pointless portion out of this chapter. If you want to read it...well...I guess you could mail me at If you want...


	9. Return of a Broken Man

**A/n:** I love to torture...I wonder if Dark Dragon 00 will be there to review when I post this. He used to be my number 1 reviewer.

**_Part one_**

**Chapter nine**

**Broken Man Walking**

"Good finally we're done." Cloud said setting down the freshly sharpened obsidian blade.

"I vote we give ourselves a nice long vacation." Tifa said leaning back in her chair.

"Ok then grab yourself a handful of blades, I should get these over there before that guy comes to kill me." Cloud said, carefully wrapping his arms around some of the blades. A tall young man wearing a white lab coat and glasses answered the door of the ShinRa mansion.

"May I help you?" He asked adjusting his coke bottle glassed up to his nose.

"Yeah you ordered these obsidian blades." Cloud said shoving the blades in his hands.

"Oh happy day! You finished these just in time, here is your gil kids." The scientist said as he threw a bag of gil to Cloud. He shut the door and Cloud threw the bag of gil to Tifa.

"Well I am ready to go home." Cloud said closing the ShinRa gate behind him. The thick growl of a old truck was heard riding into town.

"Hey I know that sound…That's my father's truck!" Tifa said looking in the direction of the truck. Sure as shit is was him driving sloppily into town. That ominous aura returned and so did the slight sickness in Cloud's stomach.

"HE-EY! Where's my little girl?" Mr. Lockhart said stepping out of his truck with his arms open wide. Tifa ran to him and was engulfed in a big hug. Cloud frowned at this sight. The familar words of what Mr. Lockhart had said about her filled his head.

"What's a matter Cloudy, not happy to see me?" He said with a evil glint in his tired, bloodshot eyes. Cloud gave him the dirtiest look he had with in him.

"I missed you papa." Tifa said burring her face in his shirt. Cloud could see how she could do that. He could smell Mr. Lockhart from over there and he was sickened.

"Aww I missed you too baby" He said squeezing her tighter. Eventually her father let go.

"Well Cloud I thank you for taking care of my daughter, but I think I can take it from here." He said putting his hands on Cloud's shoulders.

"So Tifa you go fetch your things from wherever you was staying, and I'll go take a bath then we can go spent some time together." He suggested.

"Alright!' She exclaimed happily watching him walk off towards their house.

"Isn't this great Cloud now thing can go back to how they used to be." She exclaimed happily doing a small dance.

"Tifa…I know it's not really my place, but I think your father changed for the worst did you even manage to get a whiff of him." Cloud said quietly as he wrinkled his nose.

"So he's been drinking a little, what man in his right mind doesn't after he's suffered a lose." She said as Cloud's words took her mood down a notch. With that she took off to get her stuff from Cloud's house.

"Whatever you say Tifa." Cloud said with a sigh that sounded more similar to a snort.

Amero thinks Cloud is a little to much like herself

Cloud opened the door to his house. It was time for him to got to work. He still wasn't sure if he was an apprentice or not, but it gave him an excuse to check on Tifa. Normally her father was at work and she was around the house doing random things. Tifa never really said much to him anymore, but he didn't mind as long as she was safe. Cloud opened the door to Tifa's house and looked around. Her father was sitting in a chair with his head on the table. Of course near him was his ever watchful bottle of booze. Cloud cautiously walked in when her father's head perked up.

"Hey! What you doing in here?" Mr. Lockhart growled at him, not even raising his head.

"I came to do some work..." Cloud muttered to him. Mr. Lockhart mumbled and set his head back down. Cloud walked right past him and light a fire in the smith. He stuck as piece of steel in and waited for it to heat up. After about ten minutes Cloud took it out and set it on the anvil with a slight clink. Cloud picked up the thick hammer and pounded it onto the steel. The sharp ringing echoed throughout the kitchen. Cloud raised his hammer and beat it twice more before Mr. Lockhart got up.

"What the bloody hell are you doing boy?" Mr. Lockhart yelled viciously. Cloud set his hammer down calmly and walked up to him. Cloud took a deep breath and proudly stuck his chest out. Mr. Lockhart had been there well over a week and each night when Cloud was sitting on his porch he saw Mr. Lockhart wobble over to the bar. It was time to let his feelings about this be known.

"I'm doing the job your supposed to do if you weren't such a useless drunk!" Cloud growled at Mr. Lockhart. Cloud made himself as tall as possible and glared up at the older man. Mr. Lockhart grabbed Cloud by the neck and threw him down against the cold brick wall. Cloud cringed as he felt the skin rip off his arm as he slide down the wall. In a fit of rage, Mr. Lockhart threw a glass half full of liquor at the wall above him. Cloud felt the glass shards fall down and scratch him, then the liquor that followed burned the wounds. Mr. Lockhart opened the cabinet to grab another glass while Cloud sat in a somewhat stupor daze.

As Tifa dragged a bag of groceries into the house she found her father pouring a drink for himself. She saw Cloud on the floor rubbing his face. He was surrounded by broken glass shards.

"Hey what took you so long." He said taking a long drink out of a booze bottle.

"What happened?" Tifa nearly yelled at him as she heard Cloud groan as he lifted himself off the floor.

"Nothing, I was just giving that wuss a life lesson." He said angrily throwing the bottle on the ground, making Cloud jump back slightly. Tifa didn't say anything. She looked away from both of them and concentrated on the floor.

"Yeah, Yeah did you get the bourbon I asked for?" He said in a lighter tone of voice.

"Yes Papa." She said. The sat at the table and stared at he blankly for several minutes while he drank his drink. Tifa could feel his eyes burning a whole into her back. Cloud was right he had changed. Cloud was glaring at Mr. Lockhart, he wanted to jump him and rip his throat out like a wild beast.

"I'm going to the bar have dinner ready when I get back." He said forcefully heading outside into the rain. Tifa had started to prepare dinner when Cloud slipped next to her.

"I think...I'm not going to be coming back for awhile. If he asked, I quit." Cloud said looking out the window at the broken man stumbling towards the bar.

"Cloud..." She sighed as she put the bottles of liquor in a cabinet."You were right Cloud." She said after awhile in a defeated voice.

"About what?" He queried as he wiped the small cuts on his face with a dish towel.

"You know about him having changed for the worst. I wonder if that robber knows how much damage he caused our family." She asked turning her back to Cloud and went back to the stove as she shed a couple tears.

"It's going to be alright Tifa wounds always heal with time, right?" He said putting a comforting hand on her shoulder as he heard her sob.

"I suppose your right. Everything heals with time no matter how bad." She said wiping her face free of the tears grip.

"We should get this glass swept up" Cloud said as he grabbed a broom and dustpan and gracefully swept up the shards near Tifa's feet. He strongly tried to keep his attention on the glass and not to trying to look up Tifa's shirt as he bent down to sweep the shards into the dustpan with her hand.


	10. Just Say No

_**Part one**_

**Chapter 10**

**Just Say No**

Disclaimer: umm well this would be where my rating would go to R, but I can't really say it without giving things away. Ok let's just say there might be things that offend. I warned ya….But hell, Kids ya'll need to learn this shit sometimes. _So absorb it..._

"Hey, hey guy behind the counter another round for me's and my buddies here." Mr. Lockhart said in a booming voice that echoed through the noisy bar. Mr. Lockhart was at the center of the normal drunks in town who surrounded a small table in the bar.

"Man Andy you sure is more fun since your old lady kicked the bucket." Said one of the drunken men.

"Yeah now you's got the pretty daughter all to yourself." Another roared.

"Life's a lot better with you fellers than it ever was with her." Mr. Lockhart said flattening his short hair. He puffed out his chest and belched loudly.

"Hey how bout after this next round we go over to your house Andy." One suggested, as he staggered unsteadily towards the counter.

"Yeah I bet we could have a lot of fun." Another man jeered as he nudged Mr. Lockhart with his elbow.

"Yeah I don't think Tifa will give a damn and if she does we'll teach her." Mr. Lockhart said picking up his glass off the tray the bar wench had brought.

Cloud sat on the roof staring at the stars. He had planned on going up to the moutian, but his mother insisted that he had to help her clean the house. Cloud was so exhausted he just wanted to sit. He listened to Tifa play her piano through her open window. It was really relaxing. The door of the bar open interrupted his moment and several loud drunken men piled out into the dirty street. He sat up to look at them they were wobbly walking towards Tifa's house. Her house wasn't far, but in their drunken stated they swayed every witch way sometimes knocking into each other. Mr. Lockhart held open the door to his house to let them in. Cloud rolled his eyes and laid back down. Even though the men had entered her house Tifa continued to play her sad melody.

Tifa heard the door open to her house she knew that all the loud noises of men talking and bottles clinking meant her father was home and had brought friends. She didn't really mind they usually left her alone so she continued to play the piano. Through all the noise and yelling downstairs, she continued to play her piano. The door to her room was flung open and one of the drunken men stepped in.

"Hey sweets why don't you come downstairs and serve us like a good little wench." The drunkard muttered in his slurred tongue. Tifa stopped playing her piano so he could clearly hear what she had to say.

"Do it yourself." She said coldly. Those words hit the drunk man like a bitch slap. A frown covered his face as his eyes squinted with anger.

"Don't you sass me wench, HEY ANDY COMMERE!" The man stuck his head out the door and called to her father. Tifa heard his hard heavy steps trudge up the stairs and approach her room.

"What you want?" Mr. Lockhart said as he stumbled into Tifa's room and looked at the drunken man.

"Your wench won't serve me." The man said angrily to Mr. Lockhart as he pointed his unsteady shaking finger as Tifa. Tifa scowled at both of them. Her father and his friends were little more than dogs.

"This true Tifa, you won't serve us nice men." Mr. Lockhart said pushing his way into the room.

"No…I won't" She said sternly. Mr. Lockhart frowned. And moved closer to her. His face was dirty and unshaven. His eyes were so bloodshot and red he looked possed by demons.

"You will too." He yelled forcefully smacking his hand across her face. Tifa reached up and put her hands over the stinging red mark on her cheek.

"No!" She said slightly louder. Mr. Lockhart looked coldly at her for a moment then he turned around. Tifa had hoped that he would leave at that, but as he was about to take a step he turned around and smacked her again causing her head to be thrown forward hitting the piano.

"Well I guess we'll just have to teach you a lesson." The other man said kicking the bench from underneath her sending her to the floor.

"Stupid bitch." He father said kicking her in the side. Tifa let out a pained yelp. Tears began to roll down her face. She wondered what they would do to her.

"Hey you havin' a party with out us." One of the other men said as three more drunk guys walked into the room.

"Hey I don't feel like fightin'" Mr. Lockhart said pleasantly as he picked Tifa up and threw her on the bed.

"I'm in the mood for somethin' else." He grunted undoing his belt. The men in the room laughed and started to cheer him on. Tifa sat on the bed holding her side as her father took off his pants and crawled towards her. Tifa screamed as loud as she could before her father put his hand over her mouth and started feeling her up with the other. She could feel his dirty whisker scratching her neck as her kissed her vigorously.

Amero always hated this chapter

Tifa's piano had stopped playing sometime ago, but Cloud continue to sit on his roof staring at the stars and his town. Daniel, The Headman's son sat on his porch reading a book. A scream screeched through the night air and completely shattered Cloud's train of thought. Cloud jumped down from the roof and looked around for the source in a panic. Daniel also jumped up and started to run over to Tifa's house.

"Cloud it came from this way." Daniel said beckoning him into Tifa's house. Cloud ran in and noticed an empty table with several bottles scattered over it. They both ran up the stairs and into Tifa's room where several guys were laughing at Tifa's feeble attempts to get her father off of her. Cloud and Dan pushed their way into the room through all the clumsily drunk men. Cloud felt an unbearable sensation of anger as he saw the sight before him. Tifa was struggling under her fathers grip. Her father had his pants down and his hand over her mouth. Cloud's eye twitched as he reached out to pull him off of Tifa.

"Eh what do you think your doing little man?" One of the men said as he grabbed him by the collar. Cloud wasn't in the mood for this he raised his fist and punched him in his bulbous stomach. The man leaned over. Several of the other men threw themselves at him and another threw himself at Daniel who was standing near the doorway in shock. Tifa opened her tear-  
blurred eyes and saw Cloud fighting several uncoordinated drunk men. Her father had stopped to see what the commotion was all about so she took this as a moment of opportunity. Tifa raised her foot off the bed and kicked him in his exposed groin sending him to the ground and into her piano. Daniel threw the last guy that was desperately trying to land a punch at Cloud's head to the ground and they both stumbled over to her.

"Are you ok?" Cloud said wiping the blood from his lip. One of those dirty man had had the Coordination to hit him, but it wasn't too bad.

"I'm fine…now. Thank you guys." She said tiredly looking at both Cloud and Daniel.

"I really should go inform…My father." Daniel stuttered as he ran out of the room jumping over the unconscious men in the process. Cloud took this moment to sit on the bed and relax his body witch had been caught up in the adrenaline of the moment.

"Are you ok Cloud?" She asked worriedly looking at his slumped for that was heaving with his heavy breathing.

"I j-just was so worried when I heard that scream." He stuttered slightly with a small laugh in his voice.

"You need to calm down I'm fine…A little shocked that alcohol could do _that_ to my father, but I'm fine." She said looking pointedly at her father.

**A/n:** I really disliked writing this chapter. It took 5 hours of sitting here listening to the radio and staring at the computer screen to write this. But now that it's over, I can breath easy.


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